A talk that gives a detailed picture of the concepts of convergence paradigm for transdisciplinary research, team research, inclusive teams, and how all these can come together to address societal grand challenges.

1. Convergence, Grand
Challenges, Team Science,
and Inclusion
Pramod P. Khargonekar
University of California, Irvine
NSF EFRI Workshop
Convergence and Interdisciplinarity in
Advancing Larger Scale Research
May 14, 2018

2. Outline
Convergence
Grand Challenges
Team Science
Inclusion and Diversity
Conclusions

3. Definitions and Terminology

4. What is Convergence?
(Uni)Discipline
Multidisciplinary
Interdisciplinary
Transdisciplinary
Source: Hall, 2014

5. Disciplines and Multidisciplinary
Discipline: particular branch of learning or body of knowledge
Multidisciplinarity: juxtaposition of two or more disciplines on a
question, problem, topic, or theme.
• Juxtaposition of disciplines that remain separate
• Individuals work separately, results typically published
separately or compiled, but not synthesized.
Source: Hall, 2014

6. Interdisciplinary
Interdisciplinary: integration of information, data, methods, tools,
concepts, and/or theories from two or more disciplines
○ Key defining concept: integration
○ Individuals may work alone, but increasingly research is
team-based.
○ Collaboration introduces social integration, project
management and communication.
Source: Hall, 2014

7. Transdisciplinary
Transdisciplinary: transcend disciplinary approaches through
comprehensive frameworks and paradigms
• Problem-oriented research that crosses the boundaries of
both academic and public and private spheres.
• Mutual learning, joint work, and knowledge integration are
key to solving “real-world” problems.
• Beyond interdisciplinary combinations to foster new
worldviews or domains.
Source: Hall, 2014

8. Recent Reports and Studies

9. MIT 2016

10. MIT Report - Convergence: Future of Health
“Convergence as applied to health … integrates expertise from
life sciences with physical, mathematical, and computational
sciences, as well as engineering, to form comprehensive
frameworks … “
“… convergence goes beyond collaboration … involves
integration of historically distinct disciplines and technologies
into a unified whole … integration … offers potentially
revolutionary change for biomedical sciences.”
Sharp et al 2016, Science,
Capitalizing on convergence for health care

11. NRC 2014

12. NRC Report on Convergence
Convergence is an approach to problem solving … integrates
knowledge, tools, and ways of thinking .. a comprehensive
synthetic framework for tackling scientific and
societal challenges ...
Two closely related but distinct properties:
• convergence of expertise
• formation of the web of partnerships.
Source: Convergence: Facilitating Transdisciplinary Integration of Life Sciences,
Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Beyond, NRC, 2014

13. Four Key Pillars
● People
● Organization
● Culture
● Ecosystem
Source: Convergence: Facilitating Transdisciplinary Integration of Life Sciences,
Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Beyond, NRC, 2014

14. People
• Students, faculty and staff
• Department chairs
• Deans
• Leadership
• Communicate across disciplines building from deep expertise
Source: Convergence: Facilitating Transdisciplinary Integration of Life Sciences,
Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Beyond, NRC, 2014

15. Organization
• Goal-oriented vision
• Program management
• Support for core facilities
• Catalytic/seed funding
• Reward risk-taking
• Governance systems
Source: Convergence: Facilitating Transdisciplinary Integration of Life Sciences,
Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Beyond, NRC, 2014

16. Culture
• Mutual respect
• Opportunities to share knowledge
• Diversity of perspectives
• Inclusive
• Risk taking
Source: Convergence: Facilitating Transdisciplinary Integration of Life Sciences,
Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Beyond, NRC, 2014

17. Ecosystem
• Dynamic interactions at various levels
• Multiple partners
• Within institution
• Across institutions
• Academic-industry-foundations-government
Source: Convergence: Facilitating Transdisciplinary Integration of Life Sciences,
Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Beyond, NRC, 2014

18. Convergence and Pasteur’s Quadrant
Source: Roco et al, 2013

19. NSF Big Idea: Growing Convergence Research
Convergence Research has two primary characteristics:
A. Research driven by a specific and compelling problem:
Need to address a specific challenge or opportunity,
From deep scientific questions or pressing societal needs.
B. Deep integration across disciplines:
Knowledge, theories, methods, data, research communities and
languages intermingled or integrated.
New frameworks, paradigms or disciplines from sustained
interactions …
https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2018/nsf18058/nsf18058.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click

20. Convergence and Pressing Societal Needs
=
Grand Challenges?

21. NAE Grand Challenges

22. UN Sustainable Development Goals

23. UK Industrial Strategy: the Grand Challenges
● Growing the Artificial Intelligence and data driven
economy
● Clean growth
● Future of mobility
● Ageing society
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/industrial-strategy-the-grand-challenges/industrial-strategy-the-grand-challenges

24. EU Horizon 2020 Grand Challenges
● Health, demographic change and wellbeing;
● Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and
maritime and inland water research, and the Bioeconomy;
● Secure, clean and efficient energy;
● Smart, green and integrated transport;
● Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials;
● Europe in a changing world - inclusive, innovative and reflective
societies;
● Secure societies - protecting freedom and security of Europe and its
citizens.
https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/societal-challenges

25. Grand Challenges are often Wicked
Problems
Wicked problems … there is no clear stopping rule …
working on it more … better solution … no single
right answer … every attempt can matter because it
affects the things people depend upon.
Horst and Rittel, 1973

26. Characteristics of Wicked Problems
● No definite formulation of a wicked problem.
● No stopping rules.
● Solutions are not true-or-false, but better or worse.
● No immediate and no ultimate test of a solution to a wicked
problem.
● Do not have an enumerable (or an exhaustively describable)
set of potential solutions
● Every wicked problem is essentially unique.
● Causes can be explained in numerous ways.

27. Alford and Head, 2017
Wicked and less wicked problems: a
typology and a contingency framework,
Policy and Society, 36:3, 397-413

28. Examples

29. President John F.
Kennedy speaks before a
joint session of Congress,
May 25, 1961
Apollo 11, July 20, 1969
Neil Armstrong: One Giant Leap For Mankind
Source: NASA

30. Edward Jenner
“On the Origin of the Vaccine Inoculation”
1801
“the annihilation of the smallpox, the
most dreadful scourge of the human
species, must be the final result of this
practice.”

31. 19111881 1930’s
1953 1990

32. Contemporary Examples
• Obesity and diabetes
• Food-energy-water nexus
• Low carbon society
• Automation, jobs, and future of work

33. Food Insecurity

34. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/its-tragic-students-go-hungry-in-northern-
virginia/2018/05/13/4918dd44-5236-11e8-9c91-7dab596e8252_story.html?utm_term=.4204bdeb4bbf

35. Next Green Revolution
…one that goes beyond advancing
production to focus on reducing
exorbitant rates of food loss
Zia Khan
Rockafeller Foundation
Small-scale farmers still feed a majority of the world and
must therefore be at the center of any future agricultural
research agenda. R. Offenheiser
President, Oxfam America
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/04/opinion/we-need-a-new-green-revolution.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/opinion/what-the-next-green-revolution-will-require.html

37. Convergence and Team Research

38. Dimensions of Team Science
• Diversity of team members
• Disciplinary integration
• Team size
• Goal alignment
• Permeable boundaries
• Geographic proximity
• Task interdependence
Source: Enhancing Effectiveness of Team Science, NRC, 2015
a new interdisciplinary field . . . aims
to better understand … team-based
research and practice and to identify
the unique outcomes of these
approaches ... (Stokols et al.)

39. Stokols, 2018
Influences on Convergent Science
Beyond the Team and its
Immediate and Institutional
Environments
Institutional Multi-Team
System in which the Team
(T1) is Embedded
Team’s Immediate Environment
Individual Team
Members
Physical-Spatial, Social,
Organizational-Institutional,
Technological Features
T4
Private
Sector
T3
T2
T1
NGOs
Government
Policies
Funding
Agencies

40. Improving Team Effectiveness
• Team processes
• Team composition
• Team professional development
• Leadership for team science
• Support for virtual collaboration
• Organizational support for team research
Source: Enhancing Effectiveness of Team Science, NRC, 2015

41. Inclusion and Diversity in Convergence
“A central hypothesis of convergence is that diverse teams are able to
generate innovative solutions ...
… an environment where opinions—especially dissenting opinions—are
openly expressed, where diversity is valued, and opposing ideas are
respectfully communicated may be vital to the success ….”
Source: Convergence, NRC, 2016

42. Types of Diversity and Implications
Diversity
Problem-solving approaches (functional)
Demographic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds (identity)
Relationship with team performance:
Challenges in social integration and communication
Perspective can mitigate and … reverse these effects
Greater creativity and satisfaction
Environment with diverse views and perspectives can be
uncomfortable.
Inclusive attitudes, management strategies critical to
success
Source: Convergence, NRC, 2016

43. Additional Tools
• Design Thinking
• Lean Techniques
• Collective Impact
• NSF Innovation Corps
• NSF GERMINATION
• NSF Convergence Accelerators
• NSF INCLUDES

44. Concluding Remarks
• Convergence - a new vision and framework for research
• Success will require careful thinking about problem
conceptions and solution criteria
• Science of team research to maximize successes and
minimize costs
• Diversity is an asset and strength and inclusive culture needs
to be cultivated
• Engineering is well-positioned to lead convergent research
21st century challenges demand successful convergent research

45. Comments
Ideas
Questions?
pramod.Khargonekar@uci.edu
http://faculty.sites.uci.edu/khargonekar/